Some random thoughts on life, politics, self improvement, and leadership. Come join us as we grow!

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Time For A Check-up?

"One must not hold one's self so divine as to be unwilling occasionally to make improvements in one's creations."-Ludwig Van Beethoven

Orrin as always stressed to me the importance of what he calls PDCA, (plan, do check, adjust). It's a critical process to moving forward on the leadership journey. If you stop and think about it, we evaluate things daily. Every time we voice an opinion or promote anything that we've found adds value to our lives, we've actually used this process. If we apply the same scrutiny to our lives, then adjust positively, we can ultimately move forward on our leadership journey.

Here is a great process as outlined in Orrin Woodward and Chris Brady's best selling book, Launching The Leadership Revolution. It's called the tri-lateral leadership ledger. Break down your effectiveness into three categories, character, tasks, and relationships. Take each one and honestly give yourself a grade of 1 to 10; 1 being on the low end and 10 being excellent. You then have a starting point and can see where you need to work to improve. Here's an idea for the bravest of leaders, have your spouse or significant other rate you like this as well. Do you both see the same thing? There's a test of relationship skills for you!

Often times others don't see us in the same light, so it's not a bad idea to get outside input. It helps you to avoid breaking the 11th commandment. "Thou shalt not fake thy self out." Nothing can be more sobering than an assessment from an outside source, and at the same time nothing can be more beneficial to personal growth if taken in a mature manner.